Senator Jeff Sessions (R., Ala.) seized on a White House admission that beneficiaries of President Obama’s immigration orders will receive tax credits, a sign that the orders amount to more than an exercise of prosecutorial discretion.

“This is yet one more illustration of the enormous cost inflicted by the President’s illegal action,” Sessions told National Review Online in a statement. “He has now launched a new $100 million facility and staffing operation to provide illegal immigrants with the exact benefits rejected by Congress – including work permits, Social Security and Medicare. These credits will cost American taxpayers billions every year and represent an enormous cash transfer from American workers to lower-wage illegal workers. These tax credits are not refunds, but a direct cash payment from the Treasury to illegal immigrants – at a time when the Treasury is running huge deficits.”

Sessions made the statement apropos of White House press secretary Josh Earnest’s telling reporters that Obama’s purpose in issuing the orders, in part, was to turn illegal immigrants into taxpayers.

“And that does mean that they’re going to be filing their taxes on a regular basis and that does mean that if they qualify for the child tax credit, for example, as a taxpayer that would be something that they would benefit from,” Earnest said on Monday.

Sessions said the comments provide another example of Obama refusing to enforce immigration laws.

“Congress should fund government but not fund this illegal activity,” he said. “Congress must also demand enforcement of our unenforced public charge rules – millions continue to enter the U.S. lawfully and claim taxpayer benefits when sound law and policy demands self-sufficiency. A bedrock principle of immigration is that immigrant arrivals should not rely on public benefits from the host country, and yet this basic principle is virtually never applied.”